WJPA Sports

PIAA has released the first-round pairings for the boys & girls soccer and volleyball playoffs. First round action in each of the 16-team brackets starts Tuesday/Wednesday with championship matches scheduled for Friday/Saturday, Nov. 20-21. Soccer championships will be at FNB Stadium at Station Square for the first time. Girls volleyball finals will be played at St. Francis University.

PIAA Soccer Brackets
First Round, Tuesday, Nov. 10
1A Girls 7-3 Bentworth at 10-1 Seneca, 6 pm
1A Boys 7-1 Bentworth vs. 9-1 Brockway, 6 pm at Peters Township

PIAA Girls Volleyball Brackets
First Round, Tuesday, Nov. 10
5A 7-1 Peters Township hosting 3-3 Lower Dauphin, 6 pm
3A 7-3 Waynesburg at 5-1 Chestnut Ridge, 6 pm

First Round, Wednesday, Nov. 11
2A 7-3 Fort Cherry at 6-1 Purchase Line, 6 pm

WPIAL football moves to the second round Friday night and the League has posted sites for the 6A/4A semifinals and the 1A/2A/3A/5A quarterfinals. Those pairings include the 1A match-up featuring #1 Wash High and #8 Beth-Center at Charleroi. California and Fort Cherry have separate games in that bracket with 5A Trinity heading to Pine-Richland to face the #1 Rams. 6A #2 Canon-McMillan hosts #3 North Allegheny in a semifinal game at Memorial Stadium in Canonsburg, a rematch of the Big Macs’ early October win, their first ever against the Tigers in football. We’ll announce our broadcast/stream coverage plans once approved by the WPIAL & NFHS Network.   Click for WPIAL brackets

WPIAL Second Round
6A Semifinals #2 Canon-McMillan hosting #3 North Allegheny
5A Quarterfinals #8 Trinity at #1 Pine-Richland
1A Quarterfinals #1 Wash High vs. #8 Beth-Center at Charleroi
1A Quarterfinals #4 Fort Cherry vs. Laurel at Beaver Area
1A Quarterfinals #6 California vs. #3 Clairton at Southmoreland

WPIAL Soccer brackets
Adam Moessner scored from the top of the penalty box six minutes into the second overtime, lifting the Bentworth boys to a fourth-straight WPIAL soccer championship with a 2-1 win against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The Bearcats’ last three championship game wins have been against the Chargers.  OLSH opened the scoring 9 minutes into the match on a goal by freshman Caiden Price. Garrett Allen kicked home a cross seven minutes later to tie the match. Neither team scored again over the remaining 64 minutes of regulation, the full 15 minutes minutes of the first overtime and 5:55 of the second before Moessnet netted his 59th goal of the year, getting the roller  past OLSH keeper Jack Dewhirst.

Bentworth boys and girls are the only Washington/Greene County teams to reach the PIAA tournament–the boys as the defending state champion and 4-time WPIAL titlists, the girls as the WPIAL’s third-place finisher. Both Bentworth teams will play first-round state matches on Tuesday.

WPIAL Championship at Station Square
Saturday, Nov. 7
1A Boys #1 Bentworth over #3 OLSH, 2-1 2OT

WPIAL Volleyball brackets
Peters Township won the first set, dropped the second, then notched back-t0-back double-digit set wins to win the WPIAL 5A volleyball title. The Indians won the 4A title a year ago before PIAA expanded girls volleyball to six classifications.  North Catholic was trying for its fifth WPIAL title. Waynesburg beat Seton-La Salle to head into the 3A state title as the WPIAL’s third-place finisher. Both teams will open PIAA play on Tuesday. Fort Cherry took third place in the 2A bracket. The Rangers head to the state tournament on Wednesday.

WPIAL Championship at AHN Arena, Peters Township
Saturday, Nov. 7
5A #1 Peters Township over #2 North Catholic, 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-13, 25-15)

Third-Place Matches
Saturday, Nov. 7
3A #2 Waynesburg over #3 Seton-La Salle, 3-1 (25-17, 14-25, 25-20, 25-23)

Andrew Sharp ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half, as Washington & Jefferson extended its win streak to eight with a 63-0 home win against St. Francis. Sharp’s day was part of a 360-yard rushing effort by the Presidents who scored on each of their first six possessions. 13 different W&J players were credited with at least one rushing play.  Sharp now has 24 total touchdowns (21 rushing), moving him to 5th place on the single-season touchdown list, passing Ryan Ruffing (2015) and Chris Babirad (1991). Babirad’s 34 touchdowns in 1992 is the best single-season ever. Sharp also moved into 5th place on the single-season points scoring list, now with 144 points.  Meanwhile the Red & Black defense held the Red Wolves to just 47 yards total offense while snaring three interceptions and allowing just three first downs. Matt Boyce grabbed his first interception on a pass tipped by his brother, Alex. Rudy Morris and Will Domico each picked up their second interceptions of the season. Devin Wyandt kicked 8 extra points in the game, giving him 204 in his career, passing Mike Evan (1993-1996) for the most in school history. W&J, with at least a share of the PAC title and the League’s automatic playoff big in hand, wraps up the regular season next Saturday at Westminster, then will await word from the NCAA regarding their first playoff site, date and opponent.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored two goals while moving into sole possession of sixth place on the NHL’s career scoring list, and the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped their four-game skid with a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The 39-year-old Crosby broke his tie with Kings great Marcel Dionne by scoring his 1,772nd point when Evgeni Malkin’s one-timer deflected in off him. Tommy Novak got two goals in the first six minutes and Egor Chinakhov also scored for the Penguins, who opened a three-game California trip with just their third win in 11 games. Corey Perry and Alex Laferriere scored for the Kings.